Jesus the Leader

In seminary we were required to take a group of classes that were called "servant" classes. For example, "Servant as Preacher", "Servant as Counselor", and "Servant as Leader". All of these classes were good, and most of them met my expectations, except for the "servant as leader" class.

Coming into it, having thought about the title, I was trying to hold in my head the two concepts mentioned there; servant hood and leadership. I was expecting I guess an explanation of how these two concepts come together; how they form a pastor into being a servant leader.
Unfortunately, the majority of what I learned from this class was the basic leadership principles that I believe are being taught in any leadership class, in any university, across this country. It would have been true that I could have left that class feeling as much, or maybe more, prepared to lead a business than a church, and I wondered if I was wrong in feeling this way.

Many of our texts were written by successful business men and women, who through their experience, learned what it meant to lead individuals. And, many of their principles were helpful. However, I never felt comfortable with using corporate America models of leadership to train leaders of faith communities. And I don't know why? I know that there is a business side to a church; i.e. finances, a type of marketing, and so forth, but the church is not a business or a corporation, but a faith community; a family of believers. Should we lead a family the same way we would lead a pharmaceutical company?

In evangelical America and the land of the mega-church, the CEO pastor is the leader selling all the leadership books, holding all the conferences, and spreading the "management magic" to other pastors. Well, I am not comfortable with it. I do not question the intent or the heart of these churches or their pastors. I don't question that they are making an impact for the kingdom of God. Yet, I do question the type of leadership being proposed, whether implicitly or not.

I wonder what kind of leader John Chrysostom was. I wonder if he would have made a good CEO of a major company. I wonder what type of leader St. Ignatius was. Would he have searched the likes of Tom Peters and Zig Ziglar for principles to build his leadership? I think he would have done something different. He would have delved into the leadership of someone else. Jesus.

I have decided in writing these ramblings, that I need to re-read the gospels, and take note what a true "servant leader" is.